Speech in the Land of Israel Sivan Rahav Meir

PORTION

Speech in the Land of Israel

כִּ י תָ בֹאוּ אֶ ל אֶ רֶ ץ כְּ נַעַ ן אֲ שֶׁ ר אֲ נִ י נֹתֵ ן לָ כֶ ם לַ אֲ חֻ זָּ ה וְנָתַ תִּ י נֶגַע צָ רַ עַ ת בְּ בֵ ית אֶ רֶ ץ אֲ חֻ זַּ תְ כֶ ם.

When you come into the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession. (Lev. 14:34)

Take a look at the history of the Jewish people and you will see that speech and exile are intertwined. The connection traces back to the dawn of history, in the Garden of Eden. The serpent speaks lashon hara about God Himself and tells Eve untruths about Him. (“And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will surely not die for God knows that on the day that you eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like angels, knowing good and evil.’”) Adam and Eve believed the serpent, sinned, and were punished with exile from the Garden of Eden.

Later in Genesis, Joseph tells his father Jacob lashon hara about his brothers: “And Joseph brought evil tales about them to their father.” The outcome was exile to Egypt. In the wilderness, the spies spoke badly about the Land of Israel, saying that it is a difficult and bad land, “a land that

consumes its inhabitants.” The punishment was forty years of wandering in the wilderness en route to the Land of Israel. Our sages teach that the Davidic kingdom was broken up because of strife and lashon hara among King David’s soldiers and once again we were sent into exile. From all these examples, we have to realize that a society’s resilience is vital to its survival. If members of a society curse, shame, and gossip about co-members, then there is no future for this society and it will eventually disintegrate.

The correct use of speech is our entry code into the Land of Israel. Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook said that after the long two-thousand-year exile, we needed to return to the Land of Israel and correct our way of speaking. Therefore, in the generation prior to our return and the Ingathering of Exiles, God sent us the Hafetz Hayim to instill in us the awareness of not speaking lashon hara and the importance of correct speech. Perfect historical timing! Just before we returned to the Land of Israel, we were given the tools to speak correctly and be worthy of returning.

Sivan Rahav-Meir is an Israeli journalist, currently on shlichut of World Mizrahi movement to the US. She is the author of #Parasha (Menorah Press) and Reaching to Heaven (Artscroll). To receive her daily insight on the portion of the week, text your name to: 972-58-679-9000